Dark Secrets v20
by Purple Mongoose
Summary: A convoluted mess of angst, soap opera dramatics, and showmanship. Ryo/Serena, various. [On Hold]
1. Explanation of the Couples

DARK SECRETS  
EXPLANATION OF THE COUPLES  
  
In case you remain doubtful of the couples, I have here a little section dedicated to showing you WHY they shouldn't be insulted:  
  
RYO/SERENA:  
1.Their personalities just click. See, Ryo isn't the temperamental lunatic that everyone portrays him as - but what about when he lost his cool at Natsuti's? (I mean, Mia's?) The guy's just seen the face of HELL, people. I DON'T think he's in a particularly good mood. (And when he slapped Jun/Yuli, he had good incentive. I celebrated. *&.^* 'Course, that's before I started liking the little bugger…) He's a sweet guy by nature, if worldly and distant. Usagi/Serena on the other hand, is just sweet. She's naïve, trusting, open, and friendly. And she almost NEVER loses her cool. (But I still write Ryo as a sorta pyromaniac.)  
2.Ryo seems to have a slight problem with depression and Serena's (yeah, I'm using dub names now) constant optimism might help bring him out of his *cough* funk. (I love that word! Funk! Funk!)  
3.Serena's oftentimes overwhelming innocence and head-in-the-clouds nature needs some slight grounding, which Ryo, the tries-too-damn-hard-to-be-mature, could help with.  
4.Oh, screw this, just read the fanfic!  
5.Don't they just look cuuuuuuute?  
  
SAGE/AMY:  
1.I'm not too fond of Sage's 'player' attitude so many writers give him, but in this story, he is charming and popular - but NOT A PLAYER. Understand? Good! Now, their personalities are different, you say, how could it ever work? I'm going to have FEE-UNNN writing THIS one!  
2.Amy's intellectual level leads her to be introverted and shy; the closest thing she has to a boyfriend is that annoying Greg/Uwara Ryo guy. I won't be subtle about it - I hate him. Anyway, her shyness, which some might mistake as a superiority complex, could contribute to a fascination on Sage's part. Has he EVER met a girl as shy as Amy? Amy, on her side, would probably be flustered and flattered if Sage showed any attraction to her whatsoever. Besides, the whole Casanova-falls-in-love-with-schoolgirl idea's kinda cute, ne?  
3.Amy has shown the ability to be just as eerily goofy as the rest of the 'Inner' Senshi, and she's as naïve as Serena, in different ways. (Some of which we shall not discuss.) Sage needs some light-heartedness. The guy is too damn serious! (The Ronins, aside from Kento, need some serious viewing-of-Monty-Python or something. THEY'RE TOO SERIOUS!!)  
4.Sage's innate maturity could work well with Amy's sort of ignorant view of the world. (IGNORANT is not the same as not knowing. Look it up in a dictionary. If you don't have a dictionary, go to www.dictionary.com, okay?)  
5.One word: kawaii!  
  
ROWAN/RAYE:  
1.I actually think they'd have a denial sort of relationship. Let me go into depth, for they are one of my favorite couples…well, including the others. But Cye/Mina is my fave! Ahem, moving on…  
2.Rowan's got a high intelligence (250 IQ?!), but he seems rather excitable and opinionated. The last one you must look up if you don't know. Raye, on the other hand, is snobby and smart in prophecy/fortune-telling/et cetera, but she is - strangely - referred to as an Ice Queen. Rowan doesn't have many friends outside of the Ronins (heck, I don't think he has any) because of his intelligence and the fact that pretty much everyone else thinks he's a snob. (I personally view him as somewhat goofy, but also down-to-earth.) Raye doesn't have many true friends outside of the Scouts (the girls at her school idolize her, but they aren't her friends, per se) due to her aloof personality. She likes being alone, whereas poor Rowan must get lonely. Getting an idea?  
3.For some reason, I envision them having a relationship rather resembling a hit-and-run thing. Y'know, they're constantly at each other's throats, then one admits they like the other and then they both panic. ;]  
4.Rowan could bring some sensible silliness into Raye's otherwise strictly maintained life; she, in turn, could bring some actual order into his life (he has low blood pressure and, thusly, he can't sleep until late at night and he can't get up early in the morning; he has high metabolism, so he has to eat a LOT, which could be kinda hectic).   
5.Once more, this couple just looks cute. So shoot me! (Please, don't.)  
  
KENTO/LITA:  
1.He eats, she cooks. End of discussion,  
2.What, you want more? *lol* Actually, I consider reason #1, the most popular reason for this couple, to be (pardon my language) absolute bullshit. There's more to a relationship between these two than cooking/eating. Okay, I'm biased about Xliu/Kento (I love the spelling of Xliu for some reason), what with his being my favorite RW character. *beams* First off, personalities…  
3.Kento is like my puppy Toby - a teddy bear. He's sweet, friendly, not afraid of being himself, and he's just as good a shoulder to cry on as Cye's. Heck, I'll bet that Cye's cried on Kento's shoulder lots of times. Anyway, this Hardrock might be the strongest of the lot, but he's also the gentlest. He's a big time family man. Sadly, he's also extremely headstrong and leaps before he looks. But who cares? He's so sweet! His cheerful disposition could work for Lita like Serena's did. She seems rather depressed and lonely all the time and I'll bet Kento's optimistic view on life could cheer her up. (I'm also willing to bet he's got quite a few friends outside the Ronins circle.)  
4.Lita is like a wounded wolf - she lashes out at those who try to help her. Now, she has changed a lot since meeting the other Scouts, but you might have noticed she's still rather friendless. That's weird, considering how sweet she is at points. Kento could be her white knight! (I. Like. KENTO!!)  
5.Awwwww…  
6.Kento's got a large family already, what with his multiple siblings, his two parents, and God knows how many other relatives. I'm pretty sure he's always expected to have a large family of his own and Lita's shown that she wants to be happily married with a large family. How cute!  
7.Again…awwwww…  
  
CYE/MINA:  
1.My favorite! *giggles* Here's the reasons!  
2.I'm referring to mythology here: Aphrodite (or Venus) was birthed by the sea. She was formed, according to legend, from the froth of the waves and she emerged, naked, onto the shores of an island. The point is, Cye's source of power (and his first love) is the sea. Venus came from the sea. Coincidence? I think not.  
3.Cye's a lot like Kento in that he's sweet and friendly, as well as down-to-earth. However, if you haven't seen the OAVs for YST, he can be a little hellion when he wants to be. (He floored Kento AND Rowan! Dang!) Mina is overly buoyant and often overlooks the practical to go for the unpractical. Their personalities fit in that they could both benefit from each other.  
4.As I said for Kento/Lita…awwwww…  
5.Awwwww…  
6.In the dub, at least, Cye has a British accent. (There's a reason for that: the man who did his voice also did Sage's.) Mina lived in England during her Sailor V stint, so the two could whisper sweet nothings to each other in English and nobody would understand them. Hell, they could yell 'em across to each other and nobody would understand them!   
7.I'm not the only one who supports this couple. Browse the Sailor Moon Crossovers sections of fanfiction.net or simply go to this Shin/Cye website:  
www.lovesenshi.com/shin/  
Not only is it Cye/Mina (AKA Shin/Minako) friendly, it has a link to the webmistress' Sailor Venus shrine that is AWESOME. (It's also Cye/Mina friendly. ;] Heehee!)  
I could go on and on, but I think I'll stop here…  
  
© Purple Mongoose/PallaPlease, June 22, 2001.   
PS~ I should have the first three chapters up before midnight tonight, okay?  
  
MOVIE TO SEE:  
The Wedding Singer, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore 


	2. Prologue

DARK SECRETS  
PROLOGUE [taken from original version of Dark Secrets; as said by Sailor Pallas in DS v1.0; edited so as to benefit v2.0]  
  
Two princes of Earth,  
Royal blood decrees,  
The fate that befalls ye.  
Travel to the land of past birth,  
Over time's roaring seas,  
Dangerous the path shall be.  
One will fall,  
The other stand,  
The moon shall choose.  
Keeper of Mercury,  
Keeper of Venus,  
Make sure that evil lose.  
Guardian of Mars,  
Soldier of Jupiter,  
Guard wisely.  
Find the tears of gold,  
With this - good shall gain,  
Without - upon you life shall despise.  
Four dark princes fight,  
A prince and his friends defend,  
Past, Present, Future unite.  
Five princesses follow the right,  
This journey has yet to end,  
But darkness might not yield to light.  
  
  
Author's Notes: I WROTE that? I'm actually fond of it… 


	3. I | Visions

DARK SECRETS  
CHAPTER ONE - VISIONS  
  
~Heat. That was all she felt; spiraling, burning heat that flickered across her skin, but shied just short of singeing the hairs that were, oddly, standing on end along the lengths of her arms. Even more odd was the fact that she didn't resist; she was letting the fire play across her. And that's what it was doing: playing. She walked across the sand of a flame-engulfed desert, felt the granules of earth rise up between her bare toes and slip away from her feet. Blue eyes flickered across a world of fire. Her light-colored hair hung down her back, trailing out of the buns on either side of her head, adding an ethereal look to her porcelain doll-like appearance. This heat wasn't like she'd been expecting it to be; it was gentle, almost loving in the way it touched her. She knew it was merely another dream, but it didn't matter. There was someone here in these flames that she needed to find.   
  
Behind her, echoing through the vast torch she was in, the steady, rhythmic clinking sound of her companion followed her steadily. Try as she might, she found herself unable to turn around and see him. Still, she felt the metal covering his hand come to rest on her shoulder, which was coated only by a nightgown. "Who are you?" she wanted to ask, but she didn't. She never would, not after the first meeting. She had asked him and he told her it was a secret. So, instead, she smiled, and leaned her hand back, touching his face, feeling a hand covered with armor touch her own hand. The armor covering his hand vanished and then…~  
  
And then Serena awoke.  
  
  
  
~Every instinct in his body urged him to follow the wisp of a girl, blonde hair trailing down her back. The heat was comfortable to him; he was worried that it wasn't to her. This desert, the sand burning and shifting, but never turning to glass, felt like home to his skin, to his armor. This, indeed, was where he was supposed to be, in this licking desert of flames.  
  
The lady, his lady, was walking, never pausing for breath, never searching for water. For this, he respected her. Whereas high temperatures felt almost homey to him, most people found it highly uncomfortable. Wistfully, he wondered if she was real, but he was content with trailing after her by a pace. It didn't matter which way she turned, he would mimic her direction instinctively. If, for some reason, a cliff would appear and she walked straight off of it, he would follow her, and willingly. He wanted, so badly, to tell her who he was, but the dreams were special. He simply couldn't change the contentment of anonymity into the frightening intimacy of knowledge.  
  
A hand, her hand, reached back, bent at the elbow and rest so that the cherubic palm could touch his cheek. Her palm, her fingers!, they burned his face. Lifting his hand, plated with metal, he wished away the sub-armor, leaving him in civilian clothes, touching her hand gently.~  
  
Ryo opened his eyes unwillingly. Who was she?  
  
*()*  
  
~Padding across the smooth crystal surface of the dark cavern, she followed willingly where the haunting metal clinks led her. This guide of hers was one she trusted, unseen aside from the whispery green glow, unheard except for the sound of metallic footsteps, unfelt but for the occasional helping gauntleted hand. Every now and then, she would slip, and then the hands would catch her, helping her along gently. There was nothing to fear from him.   
  
She knew she had no proof that her guide was male; she simply felt it. Bare feet molding to the wet rock under her heels, she tripped again, pitching forward, right into waiting arms that lifted her and settled her down on the next rock. The metal hand touched her shoulder briefly, and she felt her cheeks flush, a shy shade of soft red. Although every logical part of her mind insisted there was nothing to a dream, she felt flattered anyway.  
  
To her deeper surprise, he, the other person, tapped a plated finger on the tip of her nose. She felt, rather than saw, a smile. Opening her mouth, she leaned forward, throat already producing a question.~  
  
The loud humming static of a local station switching to off-air snow shocked Amy into a bewildered, sleepy awakening. Yawning, she briefly wondered what she'd been dreaming of, and touched her nose, shuffling into the kitchen of the apartment she shared with her mother.  
  
  
  
~He was in the cavern again. Under normal circumstances, he would have panicked; darkness usually had him edgy and paranoid. Of course, when there was someone depending on him, his personal phobias were void and null. Everything boiled down to one simple, single fact: She needed him. So, he led her through the cavern, towards an opening he couldn't see, but knew was there, with soft pushes and tugs in the right direction.  
  
Time elapsed as it only can during dreams and she gasped softly, unconsciously, tripping over a particularly slippery rock, tumbling into his arms. For a moment, he was tempted with the idea of holding her there, but he moved her to another rock, brushing her shoulder with his hand. Unseen by her, he shivered, unnerved by his sudden shyness.  
  
As if of its own will, his hand moved, one finger stretching out to tap her nose. He smiled, feeling that she was going to speak…~  
  
Somewhere in the Date dojo, a door was slid shut noisily, jolting Sage awake briefly. When no more sounds came to disturb him, he nestled back into his bed, blue-lavender eyes drifting shut.   
  
*()*  
  
She was determined to make it through the peculiar maze on her own; she was walking through a labyrinth constructed out of a cloud. She knew, she just KNEW, that he was following her again. She was immensely irritated by that little thing. Whoever he was, he was gritting on her nerves, and she ground her molars together in annoyance. Still, there was no use in yelling at him; he'd fall back, then come back.  
  
Hurrying her pace, slippers sweeping through the spiderweb threads, she turned around a corner, sharply, breaking into a run. A light masculine laugh drifted from behind her and, for no reason that she could recall, tears started to well up in a thin veil at the bottoms of her violet eyes. Forgetting every trick she had memorized on how to get through a maze, she simply ran, turning corners, until she came to a solid white wall. A dead end,  
  
Scaring her momentarily, a pair of armored arms encircled her waist from behind, pulling her through the wall. They plummeted, headfirst, toward the ground. "Let's fly," he laughed, Japanese words tinted with a Brooklyn accent. And she smiled, laughing in absolute freedom.~  
  
Raye turned over onto her side, flicking off her alarm clock. It was five in the morning. Time to start her duties on the shrine.  
  
  
  
~He didn't quite know why she wouldn't let him help her. He just wanted to show her which way to turn. But, he realized, she could have a great deal of pride, rather like he. That thought only served to fascinate him even more. She was walking patiently, keeping her left hand on the left wall, following it wherever it moved. It was a simple trick, one that most people didn't know, and incredibly effective. As long as she kept her hand there, she would make it out of the labyrinth. He, in turn, was walking, in his sub-armor, along the tops of the walls, following her.  
  
Her face had been gradually growing more and more agitated, until she started moving quicker. Unable to stop it, he laughed, mostly in admiration. Apparently, she thought he was mocking her, for she suddenly began running, pulling her hand from the wall. He frowned briefly. Didn't she realize she was going to get lost?  
  
When she reached a dead end, he gave in to his more playful impulses. Leaping off the wall, landing behind her as she turned around, back to the dead end, he hooked his arms around her waist, pulling her with his body, through the wall of cloud, sending them both soaring downward. She want slack, surprised. "Let's fly," he laughed, again. She echoed his sentiment, arching her arms up like wings.~  
  
Rowan smacked his alarm clock off the dresser, effectively shutting the drilling siren up. No longer caring about his resolve to wake up at an earlier hour, he fell back to sleep instantly.  
  
*()*  
  
~The rocky valley awaited her and she obediently descended into it, bounding from boulder to boulder, rock to rock. A figure, close enough for her to place it as masculine, but far enough to take away all details, goaded her on in a silent 'can-you-do-this' contest. She enjoyed it, feeling a warm wind tousle her chestnut locks, whipping through her loose tanktop and sweatpants. The dream, she was somewhat surprised to find, was extraordinarily detailed. She could even feel droplets of sweat bead on her forehead.   
  
Laughter, friendly and hearty, stretched back to her and she responded in the like, bouncing forward off a boulder, swinging up into a bold, leafy tree, clambering quickly up to the top, where she held on with one foot and one hand, swinging her body out into air, a smile curving her lips. "Hello!" she called.  
  
"Hello!" the figure replied, waving once from his perch on an enormous rock some distance away. She smiled again, feeling at peace.~  
  
Lita opened her eyes, smiling into the darkness. Whatever her dream had been about, she liked it. Lifting her head off the kitchen table of her apartment, she stretched and kneaded one shoulder with her hand, smiling still.  
  
  
  
~She mimicked his moves, following him exactly wherever and however he moved. He was in his element and he relished the thrill of movement, of exercise, of power. He kept that power under tight control, though; he'd had far too many nightmares of loosing control of his raw strength. She had created a lasting impression on his mind. She was doing stunts involving mass amounts of strength, things most people couldn't do.  
  
He laughed, free of worry and anger, and her own laughter reached his ears. His eyes saw her figure climb up a tree, swinging at its top in a carefree manner. "Hello!" she cried.  
  
"Hello!" he called back, waving idly. There was something peaceful about it…~  
  
Kento woke with a start, finding his youngest sister, Chun Fa, staring at him with wide, sorrowful eyes. "Nightmare?" he yawned. She nodded fervently and he pulled the afghan over her, letting the six-year old curl up next to him. He hoped Chun Fa's next dream would be as pleasant as his had…whatever it had been about.  
  
*()*  
  
~Kicking her legs, she dove through the water, hand entwined with another that was plated in hard metal. Bubbles caressed her skin, slipping along her thin yellow nightgown, weaving like tiny pearls in her hair. Turning, she smiled at her companion, feeling her heart pound happily at his answering smile. The world was all ocean; water covered her, but she felt no discomfort. She could breathe and move freely, slicing her legs through the water in a movement that had her in an upright sitting position underwater.  
  
She wrapped her arms around his slim shoulders, holding him to her, resting her cheek on his back, staring dreamily out at a sparkling, jeweled fish that wriggled by. After a short amount of time spent this way, she kicked her legs, propelling herself backwards, releasing him. Streaking through the water, golden hair streaming out around her body like a strange halo, she radiated a bubbly happiness, dancing over a thick reef of breathing coral.  
  
The sound of soft swishes announced his approach and she barreled up to the surface, her face breaking it and entering the world of land.~  
  
Mina cracked open one eye, spying the rays of dawn peeking into her room. Disappointed, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed, muffling a yawn with her palm, patting her widely parted lips a few times as she yawned. Junior high school called, as much as she wished a freak hurricane would prevent her from having to go.  
  
  
  
~Through the metal of his sub-armor, he could feel her hand in his, squeezing it gently. They were in the ocean, in the dark blue of the seawater, swimming through it. Bubbles surrounded her, obscuring her features for a second. Almost magically, the tiny bubbles wove into her long, pale gold hair, becoming, for just an instant, graceful pearls. She was the image of every beautiful mermaid in the fairytales his mother and sister had raised him on. Feeling shy all of a sudden, he turned around.  
  
Then he was gripped from behind in a hug that all but stole his mind in its tenderness. Her cheek pressed against his back and he lifted his head, face flushing lightly. She released him after a bit, and he looked over his shoulder, watching her spiral backward, her arms outstretched. As she flew over a reef, he imagined her to be some kind of Greek goddess, like Aphrodite…  
  
And as he swam after her, he wanted to beg her not to swim up to the surface; he couldn't follow her there…he wanted her to stay with him…~  
  
Cye snapped his eyes open the instant his head impacted with the table. Clutching his sore forehead, he winced, hissing softly in pain. An idle glance at the clock had him forget about his aching head and the kinks in his back and neck, product of falling asleep in a hardwood chair. He was going to be late for Han'a High School's first bell.  
  
*()*  
  
Author's Notes: Geez, it took me long enough to get this out, no? *rolls eyes* Anyway, how did ya'll like it? Okay? Good? Not okay? Bad? Remember: Writers like to get comments! (Not flames, though. I don't feel like getting flames: school started on Monday the 20th here in New Mexico. Ah, the joys, of junior high. Bah. So, flames will make me feel SO bad that I'll actually THINK about school and NOT about my fanfics. Maybe that's what I should be doing in the first place…) Wow, it's been over a year since I first started writing DARK SECRETS [v1.0]…I can remember the response on the SMML (at www.moonpoint.com) when I posted the prologue…I can't believe they gave me compliments for THAT crap!! (Seriously. If you think THIS is bad, you do NOT want to know what it was like in its first draft. Oi. Do you know that I never got past the third chapter in the first version? And it's supposed to have at least fifteen chapters!! 0.o Eep.) And for the sake of this fanfic, please, please, PLEASE pretend that Han'a High School is in Tokyo and that the Ronins live nearby. (Okay, I know Ryo and his dad live in the mountains, but STILL…) Please? 


	4. II | Lost and Found

DARK SECRETS  
CHAPTER TWO - LOST AND FOUND  
  
A loud smacking sound came from the basketball's impact with the gravelly pavement. What had once been a parking lot had been transformed into a basketball court, long with two baskets on either end. Two groups of teenagers were playing, one on each side of the court, while another group of teens was singing and laughing by a radio on a bench on the far side, pressed up against an apartment building. Chain link fence walled the court off from the street.   
  
White Blaze, a large Siberian tiger that the teenagers had slowly come to accept as part of the Saturday tradition, lounged lazily by the bench, eyes watching over a teenaged girl that had just come up to the fence, her face downfallen, as if she was lost. Springing gracefully up to his padded feet, he shouldered his way through the group of teens on the left half of the court, nudging his nose into the back of one boy's knee, right after the boy managed to score a three-pointer.  
  
Ryo Sanada glanced down at his feline companion, motioning with his hand that the others should just continue with the game. "What is it?" he asked, resting one hand on the tiger's broad back, walking alongside White Blaze to a bench propped up against the fence.   
  
White Blaze snuffled and tilted his head to th fence, towards the back of the teen girl, who had rested her back against the fence, sliding down it, fingers woven into the diamonds of the thick-wire fence. The large cat rolled his tongue out, licking the palm of one of her hands, scratchy surface brushing her hand.  
  
The girl giggled and turned around, only to freeze, eyes wide, as she stared at White Blaze.  
  
"Don't worry," Ryo was quick to say, not wanting to have another person get scared witless. "He doesn't bite."  
  
She looked up at him, large, waifish blue eyes relaxing a bit when she realized the tiger was with a person. Her skin was quite a few shades paler than his own and she had long blonde hair in two buns, on either side of her head, hair trailing out in long tails that swirled on the cement. "You sure?" she questioned, switching her gaze quickly back to the tiger, holding her hand through the links. White Blaze immediately began licking her hand with great interest.  
  
Ryo knelt on one knee beside White Blaze, scratching his tiger's head, behind the ears. The tiger was immensely pleased by this and began purring loudly. "Are you lost?" he asked her, eyes focused on his duty of scratching his friend.   
  
"Yes," she sighed.   
  
"Well, hello, Lost," he grinned.  
  
"Very funny," she retorted. "I'm Serena Tsukino."  
  
"Ryo Sanada." He offered her his calloused hand through the fence and she shook it with her dryer hand. The tiger turned and bumped him in the side and he laughed. "I'm not going to forget you!" he told the tiger, looking back at her. "And this is White Blaze."  
  
"Hello, White Blaze," she said seriously, stretching her hand out to the tiger playfully. To her surprise, the tiger lifted a paw and shook it.  
  
Ryo laughed and glanced at her again.  
  
She was gazing wistfully at the kids playing basketball and an idea popped into existence in his mind. "Wanna play?" he invited.  
  
"Oh, yes!" Serena looked eager, but she added in a downcast voice, "I haven't played in a while, though…"  
  
"I'll show you!" Ryo smiled. "Come in through the gate."  
  
White Blaze, in all his feline intelligence, snickered in a very tiger-like way as Serena all but danced to the gate.  
  
"Shut-up," Ryo stuck his tongue out, cuffing White Blaze's ears.   
  
*()*  
  
Serena felt like crying. She was lost, with no clue as to how to get home; there weren't any bus schedules by the bus stops she had passed, so she didn't even know where she was. But then, she considered briefly, she wouldn't be really lost.  
  
The noise of a radio blaring almost deafeningly reached her and she turned a corner, peering through a fence at a basketball court. A few girls were playing, though most of the players on the court were boys. A circle of kids was laughing and singing around the radio she had heard, goofing around and play-fighting.   
  
The itchy feeling in her eyes grew and she rubbed at them frantically, not wanting to cry before the group. Longingly, she watched the basketball players tossing around the sphere, throwing it up into the backboard, through the net with a soft swishing sound. She hadn't played basketball in ages; of course, when one considered her clumsiness, it was almost understandable. But still, she missed the unique feel of the game.  
  
Sighing, she rested her back against the fence, feeling a light wind rustle her pink drawstring hooded sweatshirt. Red jeans fitting loosely about her legs, she slid down the fence, her knees pulling up to her chest, where she wrapped her arms around them, leaning her head forward. After a moment, she sighed again and stretched her legs out flat on the sidewalk, staring out at the empty street, fingers reaching back to weave into the links of the fence.  
  
A rather unique masculine voice, a little raspy and a bit husky, asked somebody, "What is it?"  
  
A cat's tongue brushed against her hand and, giggling, she turned her upper body around a little to see the cat. The cat, it turned out, was a tiger. Oh, dear, her mind thought in a strangled voice.  
  
"Don't worry," the voice from earlier interjected, humor in it. She looked up, into the tanned face of a teenaged boy. "He doesn't bite."  
  
In the span of seconds, she noted every detail. He was probably the first boy she'd ever seen or met that had long eyelashes, which framed dark blue eyes. Wild black hair reaching almost to his shoulders, set somewhat closely to his head, he was tall in a lean, lanky way. He wore black jeans and a red shirt, the sleeves torn off to form a ragged, makeshift tanktop.   
  
Before a blush could light up her cheeks, she switched her attention back to the tiger, holding her hand out for it to lick. "You sure?" The tiger was friendly, if out of place in suburban Tokyo, and happily licked her hand. From the corner of her eye, she could see the boy kneel beside the tiger, scratching the great feline's head, which caused him to purr.  
  
"Are you lost?" the boy asked instead.  
  
"Yes," she answered unhappily.  
  
"Well, hello, Lost," he teased, eyes twinkling.  
  
"Very funny," she made a face. "I'm Serena Tsukino."  
  
"Ryo Sanada," and Ryo Sanada offered her his hand, palm rough with calluses. As she gripped it in a handshake, she thought distantly that Darien didn't have any calluses…   
  
The tiger butted Ryo in the side and, laughing, he scolded, "I'm not going to forget you! This," he looked her straight in the eyes, "is White Blaze."  
  
"Hello, White Blaze." And she stretched out her hand. Surprisingly, White Blaze lifted a paw and shook her hand the best he could.  
  
Lifting her gaze, her eyes focused on the laughing teens on the basketball court.   
  
"Wanna play?" Ryo's voice broke into her wishes.   
  
"Oh, yes!" she responded, excitement clearly showing in her eyes. That, however, died, as she remembered a little fact. "I haven't played in a while, though…"  
  
"I'll show you!" he said hastily. "Come in through the gate."  
  
Beaming, she shot to her feet, golden hair streaming after her.  
  
*()*  
  
The sun was setting, golden orange hues painting themselves onto the pavement and the walls of the apartment buildings surrounding the court. Despite the growths of civilization and technology everywhere, the dwindling sunlight transformed the court into a glimpse of heaven for a second or two.  
  
All the other teens had left and only Serena and Ryo remained along with White Blaze.  
  
"No fair!" Ryo hollered at White Blaze as the tiger stole the basketball from him, taking it into his gaping mouth and bolting for the opposite basket. "Traveling! You're TRAVELING!!"  
  
Serena found this hilarious and doubled over, laughing uncontrollably, even more so when White Blaze crouched down and sprang up, stretching his body to its fullest length, spitting the ball into the net.  
  
"My tiger's cheating!" complained Ryo and he threw himself to the ground, on his back, laughing, too, as Serena fell into a sitting position, both their faces red from exertion and laughter. White Blaze trotted over to them, licking Ryo's face. "You have failed me, my son," the boy said in a serious voice, grasping the sides of White Blaze's face. "I thought I had trained you to not give in to the dark side."  
  
Serena let her breath out in one big whoosh, slowly easing herself onto her back, staring up at the clouds, hued pink by the setting sun. "It's so beautiful," she murmured, reaching out with her hand unconsciously to grip his.  
  
Ryo glanced down at their interlocked fingers, feeling an unfamiliar sense of peace and knotted excitement at the same time. "Hey, Serena," he began in a quiet voice, sensing White Blaze as the tiger collapsed in a resting position. "What would you do if I kissed you?"  
  
Serena blinked, startled, and looked over at Ryo, not sure if he was joking. He was smiling softly, but his eyes were serious. "Honestly?" She took a deep breath, already knowing the answer. "I'd probably kiss you back."  
  
He leaned up and toward her, hesitantly brushing his lips against hers. She replied in the like, softly, and felt something she didn't when she was kissing Darien. Darien was secure, predictable. This felt…she didn't know how to describe it.  
  
And she smiled.  
  
*()*  
  
Dropping her face into her hands, Serena moaned in her room, confused beyond belief. She'd never thought of herself as a cheater before, and she'd always thought there'd be guilt in it. And, indeed, there was, but none about her kissing a boy other than Darien. She felt guilty for not telling Ryo about Darien before he kissed her. She felt guilty for even dating Darien when all she could think about now was Ryo.  
  
For God's sake, she'd just MET Ryo! She'd known Darien for almost a year!  
  
Does that make any difference?, her mind snipped snidely. After all, you don't want your relationship with Darien to get serious.  
  
"Shut-up!" she muttered under her breath.   
  
It was true, though. Ever since she and Darien had learned that Rini was their daughter in the future, he'd wanted them to go steady, to become a serious item. Thank goodness, though, that he didn't want to sleep with her. She was afraid, however, that he'd want them to get married as soon as she was old enough, which would be in only her first year of high school! As much as she did want to be a bride one day, she was hoping to get a successful education before.  
  
Slamming her hands down on her bedside dresser, she felt sinfully grateful that Luna was spending the night at Amy's. If Luna saw her pacing around like this, she'd get Lecture #3490.   
  
Throwing herself onto her bed, she rolled over onto her stomach, grabbing a magazine Sammy had left in her room, flipping absently through the pages. It was sports, she realized soon enough, and she would have put it down if it hadn't been for one thing.   
  
There was a photograph of the last high school soccer champions, from Han'a High School.  
  
The right forward was Ryo.  
  
Serena grabbed the scissors out of her school supplies jar, snipping out that page of Sammy's magazine. What the hell. It wasn't like Sammy would even care. He liked rugby, not soccer.  
  
Yawning, she sat up, plucking a framed small photo of Darien off her table. Working for a few minutes, she managed to work the picture from the magazine in over Darien's. Opening the dresser drawer, she put the pictures into the drawer, sliding it shut.  
  
*()*  
  
"You didn't even get her phone number?"  
  
"If you want to live, Rowan, you'll shut-up."  
  
"Shutting up."  
  
*()*  
  
Author's Notes: The original chapter two for Dark Secrets [v2.0] was deleted. It was mostly Sage-meets-Amy, but I didn't like the way it turned out. (It was cute, but it sucked. Really.) I know, I've taken forever to get these chapters done, but I was gone for about six weeks on vacation, which meant I had no ability to work on Dark Secrets [v2.0]. When I got back, www.fanfiction.net was messed up again. Joy. (However, to make up for this, I have a special treat for you: an RW/SM one-shot fic! Yay! In other news, I've uploaded my Cye/Mina songfic into the Dark Secrets [v2.0] file. That way, you can reread the goopy senselessness over and over while I bash my head into the keyboard, searching for ideas for the next chapters.)   
  
Next Chapter…Ryo sees Serena with Darien and assumes the worst. Kento meets and has a chat with Lita. And…drumroll please…we get a glimpse of Neo-Queen Serenity and Rini gets another Time Key! Oh, yeah, and the first Monster of the Day [MotD] appears. (Cheer, darn you! Cheer!) 


	5. III | Brother In China

DARK SECRETS  
CHAPTER THREE - BROTHER IN CHINA  
  
~Ryo touched his forehead, feeling the blood dripping out of the thick gash on his forehead. He wasn't wearing his armor and he couldn't sense Wildfire anywhere nearby. He was dressed like his older brother, in the suit of a royal prince. "Brother," his voice rasped and was nearly gone, "why are you…doing this?"  
  
"She is falling for you," his brother's blue eyes glittered dangerously. "I will not let anybody else accept her love!"  
  
The man that was his brother unsheathed his sword, swinging it down at Ryo's chest. Bringing his own blade up, he blocked the blow, but his wrists, already worn out by his brother's attacks, couldn't withstand the jolting force and he dropped the blade. Blood streaming into his eyes, he closed them, waiting for the last blow…~  
  
Ryo shot up, gasping and gazing wildly about his room in the small cabin he shared with his father. He half-expected there to be an enemy nearby. White Blaze lifted his head and stayed awake with Ryo until the teenager fell asleep, exhausted, around four in the morning.  
  
*()*  
  
Lita Kino hummed and pushed the oven door shut, twirling gently around, balancing the chocolate cake, fresh from the oven, in her mitt-covered hands, placing it on the platter and wielding a variety of colored icing tubes. A gleam appeared in her eyes and she unscrewed one of the tubes' lid, squeezing with a practiced hand. Curling shapes appeared and she realized, with an amount of depression, that she was drawing a family on the cake. She scowled and sighed, running a hand through her thick ponytail.  
  
The phone jumped, vibrating and ringing shrilly, breaking her out of her little bout of self-misery.  
  
Fumbling with her slippery, batter-coated hands, having taken off the mitts, she finally got it balanced between her shoulder and her ear. "Hello?"  
  
"Lita?" It was Serena.  
  
"Serena!" Lita smiled to herself. "What's up, girl?"  
  
There was a hearty sigh on the opposite end. "I have some boy problems."  
  
"Ohhh," Lita understood almost immediately. "Why don't you come over? I just made a cake!"  
  
Bait thrown.  
  
"Really?" Serena squealed.  
  
Bait bitten.  
  
"I'll be right over!" Serena hung up gleefully.  
  
Hook, line, sinker.  
  
*()*  
  
Rinfi stuck her tongue out at Kento, not caring if she insulted her older brother. He promptly bopped her lightly on the head with a roll of bread. Yun and Mei Ryu giggled, snatching the bread roll off Rinfi's head and disappearing into the back of the restaurant. "Hey!" Rinfi cried. "Wait for me, you jerks!"  
  
Chun Fa peeked around the corner, in the kitchen, where her oldest brother was kneading the bread, shaping it before he would put into the oven. "Kento, can I help?" she asked shyly.  
  
"Sure, squirt!" he grinned. She smiled brightly and slid across the kitchen floor. Picking her up by her waist, he hoisted her up to the counter, handing her, solemnly, a small roller, cutting out a bit of the dough, rolling it into a ball for her to flatten. "Here ya go. Knock yourself out."  
  
Beaming toothily, Chun Fa set her little heart into completing the task. If Kento trusted her to help him cook, then, by golly, she was going to give it her best!   
  
Kento shook his head, smiling, and returned to working the bread dough.  
  
*()*  
  
"You kissed another guy?" Lita asked, affirming what Serena had already told her.  
  
"Well," Serena paused, waving her fork in tiny circles in the air, crumbs of chocolate cake and itsy drops of crystallized frosting falling from the prongs, "he kissed me. Okay, I DID kiss him back." She fell silent, forking another mouthful of cake into her mouth. "Good cake, by the way," she added, swallowing.  
  
Lita chewed on her own bite reflectively, studying the fern hanging from the ceiling as she thought. Swallowing the bite and sticking her fork into the cake, a respectable amount of it eaten, as displayed by the large indention in the side, she clasped her hands together, resting her arms on the table. "You love Darien, right?" she inquired.  
  
Serena nodded slowly.  
  
"Then go out with him today. That should get rid of any worries, especially if you have a good time. All right?"  
  
Serena thought for a moment, mulling over the advice, then smiled widely. "Thanks so much, Lita! I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
Grabbing her jacket, the blonde girl stood up and dashed toward the door, pausing only to retrieve her shoes from by the door. "Thanks for the cake!" The door slammed shut.  
  
Lita sighed. Glaring at the family on the cake - although the boy had been eaten off it - and standing up, she looked at the picture of her parents, perched delicately on a small table. Blinking back tears, she wished she had as charmed a life as Serena. "I need to get out," she muttered, wiping at her eyes. "I'll just get lunch someplace…"  
  
*()*  
  
Chun Fa sang softly to herself, sitting on the low bench outside the family restaurant, dressing up her gingerbread doll. It had been her birthday present from Kento, a round, chubby doll made from gingerbread coated with layers of hardwood polish. Mama Faun had sewn clothes for it and her siblings and Pop had donated accessories made from objects lying around the house. "Pretty dress, Meiling," she told her doll, holding up a tiny pink dress Mama Faun had made from a scrap of pink velvet. "You wanna wear it?"  
  
A sudden wind caught the dress and blew it towards a tall, forlorn appearing teenaged girl. Glancing up just in time, the girl snapped her hand out, catching the dress. Looking over at Chun Fa, she smiled, crouching in front of the child and holding out the dress in her palm. "Is this yours?" she asked, voice rough, but pretty to Chun Fa. The little girl had already decided that this teenager was her heroine.   
  
"No," Chun Fa said truthfully, lifting her doll up for the older girl to see. "It's Meiling's dress!"  
  
"Well," the older girl said thoughtfully. "It's a very pretty dress, Miss Meiling. Do you have a hat for it?"  
  
Chun Fa giggled. "You're nice," she said adoringly. "What's your name?"  
  
"I'm Lita," she smiled. "And you are…?"  
  
"Chun Fa!" she jabbed her thumb into her puffed up chest proudly. "My Pop owns this restaurant!"  
  
Lita shifted her glance up at the restaurant. "Good food?"  
  
"Th' best!" Chun Fa nodded confidently. "You wanna come in?"  
  
"Why not?" replied Lita, standing and waiting for Chun Fa to join her. "Lead me, Lady Chun Fa!"  
  
*()*  
  
The restaurant had a homey, pleasant feel to it, everything accented by the delicate smell of Chinese herbs and decidedly Chinese cooking. There were a few families eating there, laughing and joking around. A pleasant-looking woman shepherded Chun Fa away from Lita, leading the small girl and three other children into a back room, smiling all the while.  
  
Lita found her way to an empty booth, sinking into it and rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes. She wasn't crying, she wasn't crying, she wasn't crying, she wasn't…oh, heck. She leaned forward, elbows sliding along until she was pressing her nose into the table, forehead resting on the crux of her arms crossing, a few tears trickling down her nose. She missed her parents so much; it wasn't fair! How could everybody else have a family, but not her?  
  
It. Wasn't. Fair!  
  
There was the sound of sneakers slapping against the polished hardwood floor, rhythmic and squeaky, and Lita squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, inhaling deeply with her nose, attempting futilely to clear her sinuses. Please, she begged, don't be the waiter!  
  
"Can I take your order, ma'am?" came the polite words, voice distinctly male. Kento, being the owner of said male voice, wrinkled his nose and, deciding to hell with it, poked her in the shoulder with the blunt end of his pen. "You awake?"  
  
If there had been such a thing as Most Mortified Trophy, Lita would have won it right then and there. Not only was she crying in public, she was crying in public in front of a BOY. Weakness!, her mind blared. Never show weakness in front of a boy!!   
  
Shut the hell up, she then thought to herself.  
  
Looking up, cheeks already swollen from the drying tears, Lita gave him a watery glare. "No," she stated snippily, "I am NOT sleeping."  
  
"Geez," Kento whistled, sliding into the seat opposite of her, "what happened?"  
  
Lita had opened her mouth, ready to curse at him fluently, then froze, jaw hanging open idiotically. What, no teasing?  
  
"Are you okay?" he persisted. Mistaking her unhinged look, he added quickly, "If you want me to shut-up, I'll just go…"  
  
"No," she interjected quickly. "I just…don't feel good."  
  
Kento clucked his tongue sympathetically. "Headcold? Hate those. Damn things screw with my brain."  
  
She almost laughed. Instead, she swiped the back of her hand across her eyes and cheeks, drying them, offering the other hand. "I'm Lita Kino."  
  
"Kento Rei Faun," he winked outrageously, slapping her hand instead of shaking it.  
  
Lita half-snorted, half-laughed.   
  
"Kento!" Chun Fa's voice broke the comfortable feel, her voice teary and wailing. "Rinfi to'k my dolly and tol' me t' grow up!"  
  
The older girl sobered immediately, feeling once again the familiar ache of her lack of family.  
  
"Oip!" Kento sighed. Glancing at Lita, he thunked her nose with his thumb. "Have I got a job for you…"  
  
After he finished explaining, Lita grinned.  
  
*()*  
  
"I'm tellin' ya," Yun said conversationally to Mei Ryu, "it just doesn't get much worse than this."  
  
Mei Ryu looked a bit green around the edges. "I'm gonna be sick…"  
  
Both boys were being held upside down by Lita, who was cheerfully swinging them around after they had requested a 'swing.' The fact that Rinfi still hadn't recovered her equilibrium did nothing to stop them from swinging. Yun was beginning to experience the effects of previously unattained speeds and Mei Ryu was looking progressively more and more ill.  
  
Chun Fa didn't really care; she was far too busy playing with Meiling to worry about something as silly as her brothers!  
  
Kento and Mama Faun were baking something Chinese and delicious in the kitchen that involved mass quantities of hot sauce; Papa Faun had told her, hands down, to stay for dinner and she hoped, privately, that she could have her own personal water barrel to keep from exploding. As much as she loved spicy foods, she was fond of living much, much more.  
  
"He's gonna hurl!" Yun yelled and Lita flipped Mei Ryu back into the normal upright human position, holding him over the large sink basin. Yun was dropped on his head and he shook it a few times while lying on his back, marveling at the new constellations fluttering across his vision.  
  
"I'm gonna be physically ill," Rinfi muttered, running out of the room as Mei Ryu began making pitiful sounds.  
  
Chun Fa frowned and discarded a toy dress.  
  
From the kitchen, there was a yell of, "No, Kento, don't eat that! WE have to eat, too!"  
  
*()*  
  
Rowan's shirt was almost too tight and when Ryo gave him an appraising look, he lifted his hands defensively, saying, "I was staying with my mom, okay? She can't do laundry to save her life?" The super genius then proceeded to mutter darkly under his breath and zip up his navy blue windbreaker. "I still can't believe," he started up again, returning to the current thread of conversation, "that you didn't at least get her phone number!"  
  
"I was too busy having a good time," Ryo retorted sarcastically. "Heaven help me, I'll never succeed at life." He frowned. "But it was weird. I've been having dreams for the past couple of weeks-"  
  
"Anything worth screaming over?" Cye asked in concern, referring to Ryo's innate ability to have vivid nightmares.  
  
Sticking his tongue out, the athletic boy continued, "-and Serena reminded me of this girl that's been in them."  
  
Rowan arched an eyebrow. "What kind of dream?" he smirked.  
  
"Jerk," Ryo scowled.  
  
Cye was quiet, thinking over the information and drumming his fingertips thoughtfully against the McDonald's restaurant table. Taking a preparatory swallow of his warm milkshake - he grimaced immediately after drinking it - and leaning forward in his seat, he said, very seriously, "She's your soulmate."  
  
Rowan broke out into peals of laughter, choking on his soda. Despite the whole mystical-armor-and-floating-heads-being-reality thing that had skewed his perspective on the world, there were still a few things he was skeptical about. Soulmates being one of them and at times Cye's sanity.  
  
Ryo gave Cye a wary look.  
  
"I'm a romantic, okay?" the auburn-haired boy defended.   
  
"But soulmates?" questioned Ryo incredulously.  
  
Rowan wheezed and clamped his teeth down on his lower lip so as to keep from losing consciousness due to lack of air. Having lived most of his life a loner, he didn't really notice if he insulted anyone with any of his actions at various points.  
  
Cye nodded sagely, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Yes! The dreams, your kissing her on the first meeting, the lingering love…"  
  
"Infatuation," coughed Rowan into his napkin, blinking innocently with large owlish blue eyes. "What?" he asked of Ryo and Cye.  
  
"I don't know," Ryo sighed gustily, falling almost instantaneously into one of his depressed mood swings.   
  
Blue eyes skimming dully across the mall's corridor at the girl's clothing store opposite the Japanese McDonald's, the only teenager in the Sanada family absently recognized a petite blonde girl with hair tied up in buns, trails of glimmering gold hair cascading down her back. Half of a heartbeat passed, followed by another, before he sat straight up, surprise lighting his eyes. "That's her!" he hissed to Rowan and Cye, jabbing his index finger at Serena's happily chattering figure.  
  
"Not to burst your bubble," Rowan pointed out with a soft voice and light flick of his own slender index finger, "but who's the guy she's with?"  
  
Ryo's world stopped for a moment, then imploded suddenly, viciously, painfully, leaving a heavy burning ache in his chest that almost seemed to sear his flesh.  
  
"I need to go," he said finally, in a strangled voice.  
  
Cye watched, worried, as Ryo left, then Rowan.  
  
"Oh, dear," he murmured.  
  
*()*  
  
"Mama?" Rini whispered, feeling the tall, beautiful woman that was her mother hug her gently. "Mama, why do I need to go again?"  
  
As if carved from loving ivory, Neo-Queen Serenity smiled down at her daughter, eyes glistening warningly. "I need you to help a friend of mine, a young man I was very close to…"   
  
The queen took a deep, steadying breath, blinking swiftly and trying to keep her body from quivering. She opened her hand, holding out a simple, unadorned key to her pink-haired daughter. "Find Ryo Sanada and tell him it isn't what it seems to be. And tell him that he must never, ever leave on the night of December 18th from where he is living."  
  
Rini wrinkled her nose in slight confusion. "Okay, Mama. If you say so." She smiled trustingly and lifted the key, crying out the words that would take her away on a puff of silver-soft fog.  
  
When her daughter vanished from sight, Serenity collapsed against the wall of her daughter's bedchambers, crying and gasping silently.  
  
And then, softly, achingly, she whispered one word, one name.  
  
"Ryo…"  
  
*()*  
  
When a giant youma, drooling and looking like a twisted cross between a cockroach, a woman, and a frog, screaming that its name was Kieneea appeared in the Crossroads district of Tokyo, the panicking and screaming began. A few unfortunate souls who were always situated near every youma attack simply continued calmly with whatever task they were doing. Two, a young couple of a boy and girl named Michel and Kiki, respectively, just kissed with more fervor.  
  
As Convenience would have it, as would Luck and her twin brother Chance, Kieneea had opted to grace the stretch of road near the Faun family's Tokyo restaurant.  
  
Mama Faun and Rinfi stalled Lita, keeping her from seeing Kento sneak out a back way into a small alley, his clothes shredding to reveal orange-and-white sub-armor that he had summoned automatically. Oddly, Lita was unaware throughout the entire battle that there was even a fight going on. She was enjoying herself too much, being treated like a daughter and sister. Wistfully, she wished the Faun family would be her official family…  
  
Taking a quick estimate at the monster's strength, judging by the size and depth of the impact craters left where cars had once been and Kieneea had walked, he came to the quick, amazingly intelligent (for his headstrong personality), conclusion. Unless he felt like becoming a flat piece of hardware, he was going to need his full armor.  
  
"Armor of Hardrock: Dao Gi!"  
  
His facemask sliding into place, Kento of Hardrock whipped out his choice weapon and leaping high into the air, grinning maniacally.  
  
"Hello, ugly!" His face grew grim. "Iron Rock Crusher!"  
  
The ground, the road, tore up in huge chunks of rock, piping, cement, and metal, each piece flying through the air into Kieneea's flesh. The creature screamed and glared at him.   
  
Dashing forward, Kento punched the thing in its tender stomach, not even noticing it make no attempt to stop him.  
  
Kieneea vanished without a trace and left Kento blinking.  
  
On the ground, unseen by him, nineteen spider creatures shot to their feet, tiny and virtually invisible. Instinctively, they scattered, hiding swiftly in dark places.  
  
"What the hell's going on?" Kento inquired, standing in the one small perfect circle of road still standing.  
  
*()*  
  
"Bye, Lita!" the younger kids chorused, waving energetically, all except Rinfi, who simply smiled. Mama Faun shooed them inside, following after them.  
  
The sun had set, heralding another night.  
  
"See you, Kento," Lita smiled, holding her hand out.  
  
He slapped it playfully. "Anytime, Lita," he told her with great sincerity. "You need a brother, I'm here."  
  
"Cool," she smiled even wider. "My brother in China."  
  
*()*  
  
Author's Notes: In the original Dark Secrets, the battle was two pages long, involved all the Scouts and Ronins, who knew each other's identities, and it took place in the first freakin' chapter. Oi. Next chapter: Raye Hino wants nothing to do with men or boys, and most certainly not a cocky know-it-all boy-man named Rowan Hashiba. He simply doesn't like her; she irritates him. Can the two work together to stop a sinister woman who serves a dark prince?…Darien sees Ryo and recognizes the younger boy, even though they've never met. Serena goes through more confusion, especially when she has a befuddling dream and Rini startles Ryo, then Serena. Heck, I might even throw in a plot point or two… 


End file.
